Jack as the Leader in &quot;Lord of the Flies&quot;.

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Introduction

Kaktyte Egle Instructor John Chang Introduction to Literature ENG 131 17 December 2003 Jack as the Leader William Golding in his novel "Lord of the Flies" illustrates different ideas in different characters. In his work, the writer explores delicate issues of the time and expresses high disgust in the ability of people to become very evil in extreme situations. He abhors the fact that all humans have inborn evil and that it is only circumstances that keep this evil side from showing itself. Jack, one of the main characters of the "Lord of the Flies", is an example of how a civilized human being can become a savage if put in a world without any civilization. Jack is also a marvelous example of how leadership can be gained through unconventional means in an uncivilized world. Jack was the leader of the boys from the very beginning of the story. Because he was a choir leader back at home, it was natural that he would become a leader on the island. ...read more.

Middle

Another reason why jack became the leader was that he could provide security for the children. It was very frightening for the children to stay alone on the big unexplored island, especially at night. Boys of this age are sometimes afraid of the dark even when they are at home, and when they were on the island their fear was even worse. From the darkness came an imaginary beast and the boys felt an urgent need for comfort and protection. Because Jack had a knife and knew how to kill, he could guard the children. He always said that he was not afraid of the beast and if the beast came he would kill it. This was very opposite from what Ralph said about the beast. Ralph tried to convince the children that the beast did not exist in the first place. In this battle of opinions the children trusted Jack because they believed in physical strength. The children were also a bit afraid of Jack because he was a very strong person. ...read more.

Conclusion

They even started to like hunting. Killing became an attractive game instead of a horrible act to them. This led Jack to transform the overall lifestyle on the island into a big game. He arranged the boys to live in tribes where everyone had duties and tasks to fulfill. Everyone had a role to play in everyday activities and it resulted in each boy's feelings as important and useful. Ralph did not meet this need of the boys. Instead, Ralph divided tasks only to some boys and left others with no activity. This became a major strength of Jack's leadership. Jack was not a leader with good and valuable goals, nor did he possess high morals or ethical values. The children had other criterion that they followed in choosing their leader on the island. What made Jack the leader was his ability to understand and fulfill the immediate needs of the boys on the island. With this the author illustrates the absence of morality not only among the boys on the island, but also in every human being who follows a strong and immoral leader. The story also proves that Darwin's theory was right at least in some situations. The strongest win when morality is left behind. ...read more.

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